How to write fiction: Roderick Gordon on publishing your own novel

With digital printing and online publishing tools, it's never been easier to publish your own novel. Roderick Gordon shares his story and offers advice to debut novelists
Open thread: How to write fiction

So you've climbed that lonely mountain and written the book you always knew was in you. But what do you do next? Shove a few chapters and a synopsis in a manila envelope with a carefully composed letter and wing it off to potential publishers and agents? Then wait to hear until someone finally yanks it from the slush pile and all your hopes and dreams come crashing down as a rejection letter drops through your letter box?

Not for me that game. I'd had enough disappointment in my life at the hands of others when I was made redundant after nearly two decades of working in the City. I think I was probably still recovering from burnout when I hooked up with an old friend from university, Brian Williams. Together, we wrote the sort of book that had lit up our imaginations when we were young – full of baddies, adventure and new worlds. Looking back I must have been out of my mind. With two sons in private school, a full-time nanny and an eye-watering mortgage, I should have been trying to find another job, and quick. But I didn't, because the book we'd called The Highfield Mole had become an obsession for both of us.

I talked to Brian about publishing it ourselves and he loved the idea. We'd have complete control over the process, from the editing to the design of the finished item. And the way we wanted it to look was vitally important to us. Our book wasn't just a good story, it was going to be an art object.

But I had no idea what it was going to cost. I found numerous "vanity publishers" online: you pay them to print your book for you, selecting one of their picture postcard covers, and you end up with something barely fit for the bargain bins in one of those remaindered bookshops. Then there were the subsidised presses who could produce a more bespoke item, but Brian and I didn't want our book to go out under one of their anodyne imprints. (This was 2004, so releasing an ebook wasn't a consideration.)

So I trawled the internet for a printer who would be interested in producing a small run of books, and also a designer. The designer I stumbled across, Ned Hoste, was a godsend. He helped me through the process of selecting a printer and the spec of the book. I had no idea of what "perfect binding" was, or what weight the pages should be.

After six months of doing nothing but editing the book and working with Ned on the layouts, it was time to press the button and send it through to the printers. You really can't imagine that moment unless you've been there. A book is never finished – you can always find a word to tweak, or something you think the proofreaders have missed. I held my breath and two months later a lorry turned up with three palettes of books ...

The books looked fantastic – 500 hardbacks with printed end papers, and 2,000 paperbacks, both versions with Brian's illustrations on colour plates. But there were far too many to store under the bed and we wanted someone to actually read them, maybe even give us a review. For a while we engaged in "reverse-shoplifting" by walking into bookshops in London's West End and planting them on the shelves. Of course we were giving them away.

I came up with the idea of having someone run a promotional campaign. Brian was initially against it because he didn't want me to spend any more money – I was already in for nearly £20,000 and counting. But I took on a PR company which landed us an article in The Book and Magazine Collector. There followed a feeding frenzy by collectors and dealers, many of whom offered to send copies to their contacts so we'd get a deal with a real publisher.

That's how Barry Cunningham (the editor who signed up JK Rowling for the first two Potter books) came to hear about the book. To cut a long story short, after some minor editing Barry republished the book as Tunnels in 2007. It achieved worldwide sales of 1m copies across 40 different countries. The film rights were also snapped up, and preproduction is scheduled to start next year.

Making your debut

Would I recommend self-publishing? Yes – if you're mad enough to drag yourself up a second mountain having climbed the first, and you go into it with absolutely zero expectations. The quality of digital printing has improved such that it's indistinguishable from traditional litho printing. And while the price of paper stock has remained more or less static, print costs have dropped in recent years, so it's never been a better time to bring your book into the world. Before you do, here are five things to remember:

1. Cajole everyone you know to read your book before you publish and encourage them to be brutally honest with their feedback.

2. If you can afford it, a professional editor is worth their weight in gold. And you'll be blind to the howlers tucked away in your prose, so don't stint on a proofreader. Some typos and clunks will always slip through the net, but there's nothing worse than stumbling through pages littered with them.

3. Find yourself a good designer who can guide you through the process and ensure the end result is what you set out to achieve.

4. Don't break the bank to publish your book. I never thought I'd break even on the exercise, let alone earn a living from it, but the odds are you won't recoup your investment. If you're not a sucker for physical books then the ebook option is certainly one to consider. Your cash outlay will be less and there are already some incredible success stories from indie e-publishing.

5. If a mainstream publisher loves your book and waves a contract in front of your face, you'll have to radically adjust your mind-set and relinquish overall control. The publisher will rule on matters such as cover design and how your book is to be positioned in the market. Take it from me – this is not the easiest of transitions. Even with five Tunnels books under my belt, this is one piece of advice I have yet to accept myself.

• Roderick Gordon's Tunnels series have been bestsellers throughout Europe and the US. To buy Spiral (Chicken House), the fifth book in the Tunnels series, for £5.59 (RRP £6.99) visit Guardian Bookshop